For 78 aerial victories he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 11 June 1944 he was put in charge of I./Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52). He claimed his 100 aerial victory on 24 July 1944. His 118th victory claimed on 2 September 1944 is also noted for claiming JG 52 10,000th aerial victory.[3]Gruppenkommandeur Borchers was transferred to III./JG 52 on 1 February 1945. Together with his comrades he surrendered to US force only to be turned over to Soviet forces.